


on the edge of the world (or wherever we are)

by A_Confused_Kitten



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alive Greed (Fullmetal Alchemist), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Devil's Nest, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Confused_Kitten/pseuds/A_Confused_Kitten
Summary: Over the next few years, the three of them had gotten to know the dumbass homunculus, who eventually became their dumbass homunculus.And now, he was missing.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	on the edge of the world (or wherever we are)

They were only in laboratory five for eight months. Eight long months of torture and hell and all kinds of shit that Dolcetto didn’t know how to live with.

Greed.

That was the man who had led them to freedom. Sure, it was an odd name, but who was Dolcetto to question it? His name had literally come from the worn label of whatever his mother had been drinking.

Greed was an unusual sort of person, and Dolcetto inherently _knew_ that he wasn’t exactly what you would call human, maybe even less so than they were.

That didn’t matter though. Why should it? Dolcetto was part dog, Martel a snake, and Roa an ox. Why would they of all people judge for not being entirely human?

There was a steep learning curve when it came to discovering the limits of their new bodies.

It took Roa almost a week to shift his form, so horns didn’t crown his head. Though, there wasn’t exactly a way for the ox to rid himself of his extra bulk or extra durability. But Roa only said that it made people less likely to attack them, and that this way, he could protect them better.

Martel took even longer to stop stretching her limbs further than what should be possible and for her words to stop becoming slurred and hissed as her emotions grew. She became even more silent, even stealthier than she already had been, and when Dolcetto pointed it out, Martel only flashed him a grin.

Dolcetto himself had to adjust to his heightened senses and faded vision. While colors seemed duller, he could hear extreme distances away, and that wasn’t even mentioning his upgraded sense of smell. He could recognize individual people, and when he really focused, their _emotions._

Martel, for instance, smelled of old leather and something positively reptilian, while Roa’s scent was a soothing mint and gentle pine. Greed, however, was soot and fire, an accumulation of metallic scents that would be strange if it was anything else.

But it was Greed, and he was as strange as the rest of them were.

“So, what are you, _Greed._ ” Martel slurred, one month after their escape. They must’ve been drinking for hours upon hours, and she was by far the most intoxicated out of the four of them. Granted, a few hours of drinking strong whiskey could do that to you. “You’re not like us, but you’re not human either, are you?”

Greed shrugged, playing it off as nonchalant. Dolcetto knew better though. He could sense the bitter stench of doubt and fear’s sour smell. “I’ll just give you a little demonstration, shall we?” He said, rising to his feet. “That’d be better than any explanation I can offer.”

Then the damned bastard pulled a dagger out of who knows where and _stabbed himself in the freaking heart._ And even weirder, he didn’t even act like it mattered, let alone like he’d _actually drove a knife into his own chest._

“What the hell, Greed!” Dolcetto barked, snatching back the dagger. “What is _wrong_ wi-”

Then the impossible happened.

Dolcetto had spent enough time in the labs to recognize the sparks of an alchemical reaction, and there was no other way to describe the red lightning centering around Greed’s wound. Within moments, the wound was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

“I’m a homunculus,” Greed said, smiling darkly, catlike eyes glowing in the dim light. “An artificial human created by alchemy. Freaky, I know.”

The chimera raised a brow, giving Greed an incredulous look. “Martel can ignore her bones, Roa is the size of a bus, and I can smell emotions. I think freaky is the baseline requirement around here.”

On the first night the Devil’s Nest was open for business, Greed spoke in hushed whispers and private warnings. “If you ever see someone with like me, run. They’ll have a tattoo like this,” he waved his hand, “and some sort of unique ability, like my ultimate shield.”

Martel leaned forward, close enough for Dolcetto to feel her breath on his face. “I’m going to assume you don’t get along then.” It was a question disguised as an honest statement, Martel’s specialty, and she said the words with a sharp grin.

“Three of them have tried to kill me and that was while we were roommates, so no. I wouldn’t say we were exactly friends.”

The three chimeras exchanged a look with a clear meaning. Greed’s so-called siblings could go to hell.

Dolcetto laughed, the sound playful and light. “Well, they certainly sound pleasant.”

Going off of Greed’s surprised laughter, he’d spoken correctly.

For the first time since the laboratory, Dolcetto felt complete. This wasn’t the life he thought he had wanted; working in a shady bar with too many less than legal customers to be considered normal. However, it was where life had led him, and if Dolcetto said he disliked it, he’d be lying.

Then the Elric brothers came into the picture, and everything was spiraling before his eyes.

The three of them were alive.

Martel, Roa, and him were alive. Dolcetto didn't know how they'd managed to survive Fuhrer Bradley's rain of viscous attacks, but they had, and they were together.

That's all that mattered. 

Sure, they all sported minor injuries, but Dolcetto would be surprised if they didn't. Roa and him had a few scrapes and bruises from their run in with the soldiers, nothing they couldn't deal with. Martel was somewhat out of breath, due to a side effect of her snake-like body having far less stamina than a former soldier should.

He was still gone.

That was the trio's number one concern. 

Greed's disappearance weight down on all of them, like they were missing something vital. 

And in a way, they were.

The homunculus had given them hope in a time Dolcetto had thought there was none. Offered them a home and a place of their own, and when he had questioned his intentions, Greed had done the impossible.

The asshole had literally stabbed himself with a sword. Meaning, Greed explained to them that he was a homunculus with a sword driven into his damn heart.

Now, that had been a surprising experience, though, Dolcetto had been slightly concerned. Who the hell would kill themselves just to prove their point? Greed, apparently.

But over the next few years, the three of them had gotten to know the dumbass homunculus, who eventually became their dumbass homunculus. Dolcetto found that Greed could barely recognize what affection was, let alone anything positive. Roa was the one who learned he loved animals, even if animals typically hated him. Martel told them that Greed couldn't stand tight spaces and overhearing him mumble curses about being trapped for decades. The simple idea of being isolated for a few _days_ made Dolcetto sick, and hearing someone be trapped for years made him want to take a go at whoever was behind it.

Even if he didn't know it, Greed was theirs as much as they were his.

And now, he was missing.

There’d been no body, at least not one any of them could find, anywhere remotely near the Devil’s Nest. There had been, however, far too much blood for a single person to bleed and survive.

The only thing Dolcetto could make of that fact was Greed had gotten into trouble with someone who knew what he was, or worse. Someone who was _like_ him.

Going based off of what little he knew about the other homunculi, they sure as _hell_ weren’t a fan of Greed, and they hated any sort of human even more so.

“I’m going to find those brothers,” Martel announced, and both Dolcetto and Roa gave her dubious looks. The snake flashed the pair a cunning grin in response, rising to her feet. “Chances are, those two know _exactly_ where to look if you want something hidden.”

And while Dolcetto could admit that she had a point, that didn’t mean he had to like it. “Those two kicked our asses last time!” He almost shouted, eyes narrowed. His canine sense of loyalty was unrelenting, even more so than it had been when he’d still been with the military. If Martel had a plan to get one of their own back to them, then he wanted in.

“And I doubt they’ll be particularly interested in finding Greed.” Roa pointed out with a dismissive nod, ever the realist.

Contrarily, Martel was down to earth, yet somewhat of an idealist, and Dolcetto was undeniably an optimist. Greed was a strange excuse for a moderator for any arguments or debates, switching between whichever side made more sense.

Let’s just say, you don’t want to get into the middle of one of their debates.

Martel glared at the pair of them, green eyes narrowing. “Are you coming or not? Because I don’t plan on asking again.”

Well, Dolcetto wasn’t about to say no.

As expected, the Elric brothers were _not_ happy to be cornered by the trio of chimera.

“What the hell are you doing here?” The smaller kid shouted, glaring at them. And yeah, Dolcetto expected that.

The armored one gave them a somewhat curious look, or at least it seemed curious to Dolcetto. It wasn’t exactly a forte of his to read someone’s emotions when they were wearing a helmet. “How did you three even find us?”

“I can track your scent,” Dolcetto said, pointed at himself, then to Martel and Roa. “Martel can get into impossible places, and Roa has more common sense than the two of us combined.”

“How is that helpful?” The smaller one yelled, looking more pissed off by the second.

“Actually,” Martel interrupted, “he’s our most important member.”

The armored brother sighed. “What do you three want?” He asked, sounding resigned. “There’s no way we’re telling you how to transmute a soul or-”

Roa cut him off with a _look_. “You two are permitted in military headquarters, correct?”

Small Elric frowned, his metallic arm reaching for the silver pocket watch. “Yeah? And what of it?”

Martel dashed forward, quicker than a snake. “Because you two caused the military to raid our nest, and now, one of us is missing. We want him back.” 

_Straight to the point as usual_ , Dolcetto thought, fighting back a grin. _So much easier than going into all of the details._

Armored Elric straightened up. “Do you mean Greed? He’s not with you?”

“Nope!” He said, casually leaning against Roa’s bulk. “And someone there obviously knew what he could do. There’s too much blood for there to be any other option. Coming from three escaped lab rats, we don’t speak lightly of letting the military keep our people for their twisted experiments.”

Both Elrics were silent.

“Are you sure the military has him?” Small Elric asked, and damn, Dolcetto really needed to remember their names. “How do you know he didn’t just run off?”

Martel flashed Roa and him a _look._ It seemed like the Elrics were in for it, and Dolcetto had to fight to hold back his laughter. “Listen, _kid,_ I saw him fighting King Bradley with my own eyes, and that was the only time I’ve ever seen him worse off in a fight. Bradley is the highest-ranking military official in Amestris, and when the military finds something interesting, they want to know it inside and out.”

Armored Elric went to speak, but Martel wasn’t having any of that. “Besides, Greed wouldn’t just take off and leave unless it was the only damn option he had left, probably after getting himself killed one too many times. So, tell me, _Alphonse,_ what else would you have us believe?”

Small Elric groaned, burying his face in his hands. “ _Fine,_ we’ll help you get the stupid homunculus back, and if I don’t understand why you actually seem to care about the asshole even though he’s clearly using you!”

And now, well now Dolcetto was pissed. “Listen here, kid, don’t talk about what you don’t understand. The homunculi were all created based around a human sin, and Greed is no different. Being greedy means you want everything, and sure, Greed is a bit of an impulsive buyer and doesn’t really understand human shit, but being greedy doesn’t entail the shit the four of us have done for each other. None of us are quite human anymore, and we’ve been through hell because of it. You don’t have the right to act like we’re ‘being used.’”

“Dol’s right,” Martel snapped, joining him in his position leaning against the ox chimera, who was beyond used to that sort of thing at this point. “He stopped his heart to earn our trust, and I’ll be damned if I am going to let that trust go to waste.

Something they said must’ve made the Elrics decision, because both turned to the chimera with twin looks of determination. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll help.” The small one said, waving a hand. “An alchemist is for the people, after all.”

Dolcetto would love to say that that went well, he really would, but that would be a lie.

Of course, planning a successful rescue operation would require the Elrics to trust the chimera and vice versa. Of course.

Alphonse was always playing moderator, while Edward and Martel fought like cats and dogs, and feral ones at that. It was always yelling, all the time. Once or twice, the Elrics would mention something that sounded like "teacher" and "she's going to kill us."

It never really came up, so Dolcetto let it be. They were already on thin ice, and he had an idea of who they might be talking about.

Vaguely, he remembered the dark-haired woman who had _beat their asses_ just before the Devil's Nest raid and they'd been forced to live in a grungy warehouse. If he was correct, the woman was the Elric's teacher, and that meant she'd be an extreme help.

If he survived asking her, that is.

Because from what Dolcetto had heard, Izumi Curtis was not someone you wanted to fight.

"You're Miss Curtis, correct?" Dolcetto asked, taking up a relaxed position inside the butcher shop. He tried to embrace Roa's calm way of talking, but it didn't seem to work, given the piercing glare he was receiving.

She crossed her arms, glare intensifying. "And if I am?"

Dolcetto shrugged. "Then I'd say we started off on the wrong foot. The name's Dolcetto, you can say I'm patron of a certain bar here in Dublith."

Curtis loosened her stance, though, it was clear to Dolcetto that she was still ready to fight. "That doesn't explain why you came to me. I'm a simple housewife, nothing more."

He raised a brow, eyes narrowing. Lies. "Funny, because your former students aren't quite sure about that. They also seem to think their alchemical prowess is enough to break an alchemical human being out of a military lab." Well, that wasn't quite true. "Or at least the older one does."

Her glare lightened at the mention of the brothers. "Those idiots," she said, and if it weren't for his enhancements, Dolcetto didn't think he'd be able to hear it. "Now, where are they?"

  
  


Three alchemists and three chimeras attempting to break into a military facility and rescue a very interesting person. How the hell had it come to this?

In Dolcetto’s honest opinion, he hadn’t been expecting Izumi, as she had _insisted,_ he call her, to actually kill the Elrics.

Both of them had simply prepared themselves for a lecture and the following spars, which turned out just as one might expect. To put it nicely, the Elrics lost.

_Miserably._

A week passed since the raid, and Dolcetto found himself growing apprehensive. They had somewhat of a plan, and Izumi had been _far_ more successful at breaking up fights between Ed and Martel than either him or Roa had. 

Granted, Izumi was a bit more terrifying than them.

But his canine senses were driving him insane. 

Dolcetto had always been a fairly loyal person, and he’d long since learned how to read people. He knew who to trust and what he could trust them to do, and that had always been something he prided himself on.

After lab five, however, his loyalty had increased tenfold. Every second they waited, the itch under his skin got a little worse. He knew Martel and Roa felt the same, but none of them were exactly comfortable anywhere near laboratory five, and that made planning difficult.

It took a few attempts to get Ed to wrap his head around that. Dolcetto wouldn’t lie, it was rather satisfying watching the realization play out across his face, only after Izumi practically slapped him with it.

Martel shouted, her form contorting into impossible angles as she ranted. “We need to go! It’s been a week, and the first week of our stay at the labs wasn’t exactly what I’d consider pleasant.”

“You’re right,” Izumi agreed, watching Martel with her usual stern gaze. The Elrics stood behind her, and as Ed started to interject, she raised a hand. He stopped instantly. “Our plan isn’t without its flaws, but if we wait for that to happen, I’m afraid we’ll be too late.”

The three chimeras exchanged a look. Martel had a small grin, one hidden except for quiet moments at the Devil’s Nest, and Roa looked protective as ever. Even at the labs, the biggest of the trio had been quite insistent that he looked after them, and Dolcetto that would ever change.

But they had a plan now.

They would be complete soon enough.

“There’s a high-class military ball tonight,” Ed drawled, speaking in the tone he reserved for the military’s useless antics. “Anyone who wants to show off will be there.”

Martel flashed him a suspicious look. “And can we trust that this information is reliable? I’m not risking any of our people’s lives on a gamble that would get us all killed.”

Ed rolled his eyes, giving her a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it. Mustang’s the one who told me, and that man would burn anyone involved in human experimentation. Besides, knowing him, he probably knows we’re up to something.”

Dolcetto resisted the urge to roll his eyes, not wanting to accidentally spur on a fight. Granted, that effort was more than likely going to go to waste. “Then we better be ready.” He settled on saying. Honestly, this whole ‘work with a state alchemist to break into the military’ idea was going better than Dolcetto had thought it would.

The plan was simple. Get in, find Greed, and get out. Well, at least that was the simplified version of it. Even during his brief time in the military, Dolcetto had preferred to divide his assignments into easy to process sections, and _then_ figure out how all of the variables fit in.

Of course, _planning_ an operation being simple didn’t mean that it actually would be.

And of course, the rescue went horribly off the rails. Because _no one_ had expected that, _right_?

The soul-bonded suits of armor certainly weren’t helping the already chaotic mission.

 _That’s what the alchemists are for,_ Dolcetto thought with a bitter grin, as the three chimeras dashed forward, swiftly dodging the metal soldiers. Besides, Izumi had already said that they would deal with the guards, at least until they found their fourth.

Dolcetto ran in the lead, letting his senses guide him to where they needed to be. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any more chimera running around the lab, because that would create even more of a mess, and Dolcetto didn’t really feel like going on the run from the military quite yet.

Granted, that was still a likely possibility. 

He came to stop at a split in the hallway, hesitating for only a moment to find the right direction. The dog chimera had long since memorized the scents of his companions, and as he recognized the familiar metallic scent, he was glad he did.

“This way!” Dolcetto said, not waiting to see if Martel or Roa were following him. Why would he? He could tell you that they were right behind him without an ounce of hesitation. “He’s close.

Two more minutes were spent rushing this way and that before they came to a tall steel door, covered in alchemical runes.

“This is the place,” Martel said, taking a confident step forward. She turned to them with a tiny grin. “Roa, would you like to do the honors? This clearly wasn’t made to be opened by any average person, and you’re the strongest of the three of us.”

Yeah, that was true.

Roa shrugged his shoulders, his expression giving away the determination that all of them felt. “Here goes nothing.” He said and slammed his body into the door. It creaked, not fully caving open, and he did it twice more before it did, groaning as it swung open. 

Martel was the first to slip inside, squeezing past Roa, and Dolcetto followed right behind her. The room was barely enough for three people, and Dolcetto knew he’d get nightmares for days at the thought of being trapped in here.

Fortunately, they’d only be here for a few moments.

Unfortunately, Greed was already here for a week. Given that he already had a thing about tight spaces, Dolcetto couldn’t imagine how unpleasant that week must’ve been.

The room’s walls were decorated in even more alchemy than the door. The homunculus was slumped over, stiller than Dolcetto had ever seen him, and red stained chains pinned him in place. He bit back a curse, because of course! Of course, there was a damn blade sticking out of Greed’s throat, which probably was the reason for his silence.

Martel, on the other hand, didn’t refrain from swearing up a storm. “Those bastards!” She hissed. “Those absolute bastards! If Greed doesn’t plan on killing them, then I’ll do it myself.”

Dolcetto turned his attention away from his ranting friend and towards his injured one. “Hey, Greed, you alright there?” 

He got what could be considered a shrug.

“Eh, I’ll take it. Martel, start undoing these chains for me, would you?” He said, turning to the snake. She always had been the better escape artist. “I can deal with the goddamned knife in your throat.”

Greed hummed, just loud enough for him to hear, so Dolcetto could only assume that was an affirmative. So, he did the only thing he could: got a solid grip on the blade’s handle and _pulled._

It came free with a single motion, clattering to the ground. The homunculus coughed, blood splattering across the ground. Greed flashed him a look that almost hid his surprise. _Almost._ “What the _hell_ are you doing here?” He demanded, though, his trembling voice probably wasn’t what he was going for. “I didn’t break you out of this hellhole only for you to walk back in!”

Dolcetto simply smiled, more genuine than he had since the raid. “It’s simple, Greed, you’re one of ours.”

A satisfying clang filled the air, and Martel slid to Dolcetto’s side. “We don’t leave our people behind, and if you haven’t noticed, you’re one of us. Besides,” she added, “I’ve always wanted to tear this damned place to pieces.”

Greed let out a choked laugh, and goddammit, the stupid circles all over the room must’ve been preventing him from regenerating, because blood dripped from the wound and nothing appeared to heal it. 

“Hell yeah, you can burn this place to the ground.”

Unfortunately, Elric wouldn’t let them destroy it, but whatever. They had their fourth and that was what mattered.

  
  


“You three really are idiots,” Greed said one night, three days after their escape. “None of you should ever have to be anywhere near lab five. Hell, none of you should even have to _think_ about that godforsaken place.”

“Too late, boss.” Dolcetto waved him off, a sly smile on his face. “Besides, like Martel said, I really wanted the chance to screw that place up.”

Two months after their rescue operation, the four of them had set up a new nest, tucked away in a small space in East City. Sure, it was right under the military’s nose, but Ed had made sure their place was secure.

“I can’t have you idiots going off on a suicide mission again if the military comes after you.” The kid grumbled, bright red. “You guys aren’t as bad as I thought you were.”

Greed seized the opportunity, ruffling Ed’s hair like he’d done to the other chimeras, Ulchi and Bido. “Don’t worry, pipsqueak, we’ll be back to causing trouble before you know it.”

Ed sputtered, his face growing red. “Who’re you calling so small-”

The three chimeras couldn’t help but laugh, and the tiny alchemist stopped his rant before he’d even begun.

Greed leaned forward, gesturing widely. “We’ll be fine, seriously, Ed, don’t worry about us. It’s not that easy to bring us down.”

Ed turned away, mumbling furiously. “I’m not worried! I just don’t want to deal with you idiots starting trouble and kidnapping Al and I or Teacher-”

“There was no kidnapping involved!”

  
  


Ed left with a flash of red, and the four of them grinned. The little alchemist wasn’t half bad.

  
  


Greed approached them, a confused look on his face. “So, did you mean it?” He asked nonchalantly, hands shoved into his pockets.

Dolcetto gave him a curious look. “Mean _what_ ?” There had been so much shit said in these last few days that he couldn’t _really_ be sure. And he really didn’t want to mess something up by assuming Greed meant something other than what he did. 

The homunculus sighed, tugging off his glasses to meet their eyes with his violet ones. “Y’know, the whole ‘your people’ thing? You _actually_ consider me a friend? Me? The artificial human.”

He rolled his eyes. Honestly, he should have seen this coming. The other homunculi seemed to have a pretty messed up definition of family or friends, and Greed wasn’t quite an exception to that. Dolcetto wasn’t even that surprised.

“Yeah, you’re one of ours, alright,” Martel spoke up, shoving Greed down on the floor next to him and Roa, then plopped down beside them. 

Dolcetto leaned forward for the sole purpose of poking Greed’s face, before getting comfortable lying against Roa. “Possession goes both ways, idiot. And frankly, it’d get pretty boring around here without you doing all sorts of stupid shit.”

Roa chuckled, his laugh sending vibrations down Dolcetto’s back. “They’re right, you know.”

The homunculus shifted so Dolcetto was tucked against his side, safe and protected, because that’s what Greed did. A small smile spread across his face, a rare sight even amongst the four of them. “I’m yours, huh.” Greed sighed, sounding relaxed rather than irritated.

“Yep,” Martel piped in, sitting down to lean on Roa’s other side. “And don’t you forget it.”

His smile only grew more content. “Nice,” he said simply, finally relaxing into their nest. “I could get used to this.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Here's another "I'm-still-in-denial-about-every-death-in-fma" fic. This makes three of them? Granted, I think most of my fics are based around characters not dying.
> 
> Anyway, I love these characters so I wanted to try my hand at writing them, so hopefully I did them justice. I thought about adding Nina in, but at that point it would involve way too much rewriting. So maybe in a future fic? Let me know if y'all are interested in that.
> 
> ~ Cheshire


End file.
